Photo Credit: Mike Clarke/Getty Images
Ocean trash is a universal problem. Plastic trash has been gathering in the ocean and endangering marine life for decades.
Besides spreading awareness about the issue, so much can be done to clean up the ocean. But, let’s start with where this plastic is coming from…
Thanks to an online tool developed by oceanographers in Australia, you can predict where ocean trash will end up based on ocean currents. Using the tool, it may be possible to trace plastic back to its source.
“We can’t yet say this is Chinese plastic or American plastic,” oceanographer Erik van Sebille said to TakePart.com, “To hold countries accountable, we need to know something about the currents, and we need to know where the plastic is at this moment, even outside of the garbage patches.”
Though the water in the ocean sinks and moves around like a roller coaster, buoyant plastic remains on the surface, eventually joining five known “garbage patches.”
Check out this online tool for yourself to learn how trash from your country is impacting the ocean and marine life.